


You're how I pray

by bisexualcyborg



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Altar Sex, Anal Sex, Blasphemy, Blowjobs, Catholic Richard, Church Sex, Dirty Talk, Exhibitionism, Fluff, M/M, Musings on brother issues, Public Sex, Rimming, SO MUCH FLUFF, Wannabe character study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 16:28:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5255288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualcyborg/pseuds/bisexualcyborg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Supportive Boyfriend" Severin accompanies Richard to church because he wants to understand religion's importance to Richard. He honestly wasn't expecting altar sex, but hey, he's not complaining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're how I pray

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KeJ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJ/gifts).



> Written for my love [KeJ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJ)'s birthday. She has quite a few headcanons about Richard and religion, as well as a giant thing for blasphemy, so how could I not.  
> Happy birthday, Lilou. I love you <3
> 
> (Title from Lana Del Rey's "Religion" - do you even know how many options I had when looking from a lyric from a blasphemous love song? So many.)

It’s Tuesday evening, and Severin is standing in front of St Mary’s Church. Richard usually comes here on his own – always on Tuesdays; weekends are busy for an actor – but this is important to him, and even though Severin doesn’t get it, he at least wants to try.

Richard takes Severin’s hand and smiles up at him. They walk into the chapel like that, fingers intertwined. To Severin, it feels like an act of defiance. Ostensibly gay in a church. Let’s see just how far “love thy neighbour” goes.

Is it defiance for Richard too? Or is it something else; something more peaceful, like reconciliation? Or an introduction, perhaps. Meeting the in-laws, as it were.

As an act of defiance, it’s pretty useless, in any case. The chapel is deserted. Severin is almost disappointed – he rather enjoys staring offended bigots down.

Richard squeezes his hand. “Give me some time to say my prayers, okay? You walk around and look at the paintings or something.”

Severin nods, and Richard walks over to one of the pews, towards the back of the church. Severin appreciates this about Richard: religion is important to him, for reasons Severin hasn’t quite figured out yet – he thinks it might have to do with Jim; Richard holding on to his Catholic roots as a sign of independence towards his pretentiously rational overbearing brother – but he never tries to convert Severin, not any more than Severin tries to dissuade Richard from his beliefs.

It’s a pretty church, as far as churches go. The walls are painted white and inset with big windows, which makes the whole thing very luminous. It’s easy to see why Richard chose this church to come say his weekly prayers. It’s peaceful in a way that would feel holy to Severin too, were he religiously inclined. The paintings are predictably kitsch – pastel blue with little angels flying about, lots of golden etchings – but the altar is quite nice, framed by two pairs of bronze-coloured columns.

Severin runs his fingers over them. They feel smooth, and cold to the touch. He leans against one of them, watching the church pews. Watching Richard.

He’s sitting quietly, elbows on the backrest of the pew in front of him, hands joined and fingers interlocked, his forehead almost touching his knuckles. He looks at peace, yet strangely intense. Severin is suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of love so strong it almost feels like worship.

What is he praying about, his Richard? He never talks to Severin about that. This is the one area of life Richard – usually so very exuberant and thriving on attention – is private and subdued about. That’s probably the main reason why he goes to church on Tuesdays, actually, more than the fact that his shows tend to play during the weekend. Churches are full of people on Sundays; people who want to be seen practising religion more than actually practise it for themselves. Richard’s relationship to Catholicism is more complicated – it’s one of the few things that he does just for himself, although, like everything in his life, it’s about Jim too, on some level.

Severin stares at the painted ceiling. Everything is about Jim, isn’t it? Severin hates it, how that – that _murderer_ holds everything he holds dearest in the palm of his hand. Richard, of course, but also Seb, and despite’s Severin’s complicated relationship with his brother – the only good thing Seb has brought him in the past few years is his relationship with Richard; it’s more than that, now, much more, but they found each other because no one else would have understood all their fucked-up brother issues – he still cares about him. 

It used to be Sebastian and Severin together, always, but now that Jim is there Severin has been reduced to something for Seb to mock and control. And despite that, Severin still regularly wakes up screaming from nightmares in which Sebastian somehow got killed because of his psychopath of a lover.

Severin know that Jim doesn’t like him any more than Severin likes Jim, but that’s not a consolation. Severin _hates_ Jim; the only thing Jim feels for Severin is disdain. Severin is not even remotely threatening enough to Jim to even be considered a rival.

Maybe that’s why Jim is so bitter and mocking about Richard’s religious convictions. Jim wants to be the highest power in Richard’s life, but not even Jim can expect to ever be more influential than God. 

Richard slips his hand in Severin’s, and Severin starts. He didn’t even notice Richard come up to him.

“Guilty conscience?” Richard teases. 

Severin smiles down at him. Fuck Sebastian, fuck Jim Moriarty. Richard is here, Richard loves him, and that’s more than enough.

“I was just thinking.”

Richard giggles. “I hope you didn’t hurt your brain.”

“Oh, shut up, you,” Severin says, swatting him lightly on the head.

“Such violence.” Richard tuts. He reaches up on tiptoes and places a gentle kiss on Severin’s lips. 

Severin gasps mockingly. “Gay kisses in a church! How scandalous!”

“I’ll show you scandalous,” Richard says, and pulls Severin in by his shirt lapels to kiss him more deeply.

Severin kisses back, cupping Richard’s head with both hands, his little finger playing with the fly-away hairs at the nape of his neck. He turns, not breaking the kiss, until the length of his body is pressing Richard against the altar. He strokes down Richard’s back and around to the front, where his hand comes to rest right at the bottom of Richard’s ribcage.

Richard grabs Severin’s hips and pulls him even closer, and Severin chuckles quietly. Richard is unmistakeably growing hard against his thigh.

Who needs religious exaltation when there’s this?

Severin sinks to his knees. 

Richard stares down at him. “What the _fuck_ are you doing?”

Severin grins. “Praying to you, obviously.”

He unbuckles Richard’s belt and drops a kiss on the strip of bare skin between Richard’s jeans and his soft cotton t-shirt. 

He looks up with wide, innocent eyes. “Isn’t this a place of worship, after all?”

“Oh my god,” Richard groans, rolling his eyes. “I cannot believe you.”

“Is that a no, then?” Severin asks.

“As if.”

Richard grabs Severin’s hair and pulls, none too gently, until his mouth is pressed against the bulge in Richard’s boxers. 

When Severin licks at him through the fabric, Richard’s breath hitches. Severin would like to take his time, to tease, to draw it out, but he’s very aware that the church door behind him isn’t locked and that someone could walk in on them at any moment. 

Severin suddenly realises his cock is hard. Well, no surprise there.

He pulls Richard’s jeans and boxers down just enough for his cock to spring free, and starts kissing his way along the shaft. He leaves a trail of soft, teasing butterfly kisses that make Richard squirm. When Richard starts pulling at Severin’s hair almost hard enough to hurt, Severin takes him into his mouth. He swirls his tongue around the head of Richard’s cock; gives little, flicking licks. Richard’s thigh trembles against his hand.

Cupping Richard’s arse with both hands, Severin pulls Richard towards him, taking him as deep as he can. Richard makes a choked sound in the back of his throat. 

“Not yet,” Richard pants, pulling Severin away. “I want –“

He reaches into his pocket, stroking Severin’s cheek in the process, and pulls out a sachet of lube. Richard likes public sex a lot, and he’s taken to carrying lube around everywhere in case he’s struck with the sudden urge to risk getting arrested for public indecency. Not that Severin is complaining. At all.

Richard stares down at him. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. 

“I want your fingers.”

Severin swallows. Screw “quick,” then. If he has to get arrested someday, there are worse reasons for that than simultaneously sucking off and finger-fucking his boyfriend in a _literal church_.

But before he can tear the sachet of lube open, it becomes clear Richard has his own idea of how this should go. He wriggles around until his arse is right in Severin’s face, and bends over, arms spread out over the altar.

Severin’s throat runs dry.

“Jesus _fuck_ , Richard,” he breathes.

Richard looks back over his shoulder. “That’s the general idea, yes.”

Well. If Richard’s arse is spread open in front of Severin’s face so prettily, he’s going to have to wait a bit to get Severin’s fingers. There’s no way Severin can be expected to resist this kind of temptation.

He grips Richard’s arse and licks a broad, wet stripe over his arsehole. 

Richard breathes in sharply. “Sev!”

Severin pulls back. “Want me to stop?”

“Fuck, _no_ ,” Richard answers, and pushes his arse back.

Severin smiles and licks at Richard’s hole again, before pointing his tongue and pushing it inside him. Richard moans, but the sound is muffled; he must be biting his forearm. Normally, Severin would protest, but this is a church, and sound echoes.

He licks around Richard’s rim, and then inside him, prodding and probing until he’s wet and open and panting with pleasure. 

“I – I changed my mind,” Richard gasps brokenly. “I want your cock. Now.”

“Always at your orders.” Severin stands up and open the lube. “But you’re still getting my fingers first.”

He smears lube over Richard’s hole and pushes a finger into him, quickly followed by a second. He crooks them, pushes them just a bit deeper and – ha! there’s that choked noise again. 

Severin strokes back and forth over Richard’s prostate until Richard’s legs are trembling. He adds a third finger, scissors and twists them, and –

“Fuck me,” Richard demands, panting softly. “Come on, Severin, fuck me, now.”

Gently, Severin pulls his fingers out. His hands shake ever so slightly as he unbuckles his belt and pushes his trousers down. He slicks up his cock with the lube that’s still on his fingers and caresses down Richard’s cotton-clad back with his other hand. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pushes in. 

Suddenly, there’s a noise behind him, and Severin freezes. He’s almost afraid of looking over his shoulder, but when he does, the church is – thank god – perfectly empty.

“It’s just the pews creaking,” Richard tells him through teeth. “They do that a lot. Now _fuck me_.”

He pushes himself back onto Severin’s cock, and Severin moans. Fuck, he feels amazing, hot and wet and tight around him. Carefully, Severin starts moving. He’s biting his lower lip to stop himself from moaning too loud, but then he looks down at Richard, and a loud groan escapes him.

Richard is bent over underneath him, his chest flat against the altar, arms spread out on both sides of him in something that looks like a mockery of a crucifixion, his fingers almost brushing against the columns. His cheek is smushed against the tabletop, but he’s watching Severin out of the corner of his eye, as though he can’t bear not to look at him. He looks like the very picture of sin.

“Fuck me,” Richard whispers, and god, this man is going to give Severin a heart attack. “Fuck me hard. Give me something to remember when there are too many people here and I can’t pray in peace. Come on, _Sev_ , take me.”

Severin bends over, chest against Richard’s back, to change the angle of his strokes. He speeds up, fucking Richard harder, and brings one hand up to his throat. When Severin curls his fingers around Richard’s throat – not hard, not pressing, just enough to say “You’re _mine_ ” – Richard whimpers, but he doesn’t stop talking.

“The longer you take to make me come, the higher the chance is that someone will walk in on us, Sev. Is that – ah! – is that what you want? Someone seeing us like this, seeing you fucking me over a _fucking church altar_ , Sev, I can’t believe we’re doing this, ohgod, someone seeing you taking me, making me y– _fuck, Sev!”_

Sev reaches around to Richard’s cock with his free hand, and with four strokes, Richard is coming all over his fingers, hips bucking and shifting every which way. He tightens around Sev’s cock and it’s only seconds before Sev comes too, teeth gritted against a shout.

They both take a moment to catch their breath, their pants echoing loudly against the walls. Suddenly, Richard starts giggling uncontrollably. “Oh my God, that was _amazing_. I cannot believe we did this, oh my God, Sev, I love you so much.” 

He wriggles his arse, making it clear he wants Severin to pull out. Severin obeys, and pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe them both clean before pulling up his trousers.

Richard straightens up to do the same, and grabs Severin’s hand to place a kiss onto his palm. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here before someone actually catches us.”

The absurdity, the sheer insanity of what they just did suddenly hits Severin, and it’s his turn to break into a giggle fit. Richard ineffectively tries to hush him through his own giggles and pulls Severin away from the altar, towards the door.

They’re already on the street, still giggling like schoolgirls, when Richard stops and pulls Severin down to whisper something in his ear.

“I’m going to be leaking your come all the way home.”

Severin’s giggles cease abruptly, and he thanks the heavens he doesn’t believe in that he came not three minutes ago. He had his share of public erections as a teenager, thank you very much. 

Richard winks and starts walking again, swinging their intertwined hands between them. Severin rolls his eyes. This man is going to be the death of him.


End file.
